Sympathy cards are a fact of life and we all need to send them eventually. This card is rather monochromatic with Wisteria Wonder card stock and Wisteria Wonder stamped flowers from the Flower Shop Stamp Set. The Wisteria Wonder background is embossed with the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder. The Whisper White strip across the bottom of the card is embossed with the Delicate Designs Embossing Folder.  My favorite ribbon is across the front, the Whisper White 5/8″ Organza Ribbon. It is not tied in a bow – a strip of ribbon is placed across the front and adhere to the back of the card layer and then a separate bow is tied and adhered to the top of the ribbon with a few Mini Glue Dots.

The Flower Shop flowers are stamped with Wisteria Wonder ink on Whisper White card stock and then punched out with the coordinating Pansy Punch. In fact, you can purchase a Bundle of the Flower Shop stamp set, in wood-mount or clear-mount Bundle and the Pansy Punch and save 15%. But you have to do it while the bundle is still available because the Bundle is on the retirement list. However, the stamp set and punch are both available separately in the new catalog. Yeah!

The sympathy greeting is from one of my favorite stamp sets, Teeny Tiny Wishes. You can find almost any greeting you need in this stamp set, and then you can easily punch it out with the Word Window Punch or others. I recommend getting the wood-mount in this stamp set because all of the greetings are rather small and I think easier to handle in the wood.  There is a similar new set in the new catalog and that will definitely be on my list!

I love the Flower Shop flowers and the Pansy Punch. You can make lots of pretty cards with this stamp set.

If you are interested in this Flower Shop Bundle, be sure to order it in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store before June 4th.

Here’s another card we made at my stamp camp on Sunday with the Petite Petals Punch and the new In Colors 2014-16. It was a last minute creation and my mojo wasn’t working. But then – in the end it came together and I think everyone liked the card! It’s just a simple Whisper White card base with the top wrapped in Gold Baker’s Twine three times and tied. The flowers are punched with the Petite Petals Punch in all the new In Colors:  Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist, and Blackberry Bliss. The center of the flower is Crumb Cake punched with the new Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, a set of three small punches of the flower, a star and a heart! And for an embellishment I used some Candy Dots in the center of each flower.  LOVE THOSE CANDY DOTS!!!

Here’s a flower tip:  To make little punched flowers like this look a little 3D, poke them in the center with something like the Paper Piercing Tool or a Bone Folder or a pencil eraser or whatever you have. It will make the petals stand up just a bit.

The little greeting “hello” is stamped in the beautiful new ink color Blackberry Bliss with the stamp set A Dozen Thoughts. We all found we loved the new Blackberry Bliss ink! The color is beautiful!

I know May has sped by, but it still seems like the debut of the new catalog is eons away on June 2nd. But it will get here! If you don’t have a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator that you work with and are interested in Stampin’ Up! products, please email me and I can send you the new catalog that is coming soon! It will be available online starting June 2 at Noon MT, but most people like having the hard copy in their hands!  I know I do! Just email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com if you have an interest.

The Hearts A Flutter Clear-Mount Stamp Set is on the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals this week, today being the last day to order it for that discounted price. The Hearts a Flutter stamp set is on the Retired List, too, so if you like it, you better get it! At this moment, anyway, both the wood-mount and clear-mount are available, with just the clear-mount being discounted today only. Tomorrow a new Weekly Deal list will come out.

As you can see, hearts are not just for Valentine’s Day.  I think hearts are like stars – everybody should have some!  They are so multi-purpose! This card I made can be used for any occasion, all you have to do is put the appropriate greeting you want. I used the Hearts A Flutter Framelits Dies to cut out an assortment of hearts and a banner. That made it so easy. Although the Primrose Petals card stock is no longer available, it looks like the ribbon and ink pad are, of course that can change in an instant, so don’t delay. The other color I used on this card is Bermuda Bay.

If you have a small budget for stamping supplies, think about sets like this that are versatile when you order so that you can use them in many ways for cards, projects and scrapbook pages!

If you want to check out the Weekly Deals that end late tonight, please go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store. Be sure to check out all the categories in the left sidebar!

If you need an easy to make Mother’s Day card idea, make a Mother’s Day card with hearts! Hearts are kind of like stars – they can be used for many occasions and are easy to use to design a quick and easy card. For a card like this, just make the card base and adhere as many or as few hearts as you like.  You can cut them out with various of our Stampin Up! Framelits Dies or punches or cut out with our Paper Snips. I used the Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper, but of course you can use any paper, even solid color card stock. Adhere flat on the card, layer, pop-up with Stampin’ Dimensionals, whatever you like.  Stamp a greeting somewhere on the card. This one comes from the Geometrical Stamp Set in the Occasions Catalog. If you don’t have a “Mother’s Day” greeting, use something else, like this one. Leave as is or add a little bling like I did with the Gold Baker’s Twine and some individual sequins from the Sequin Trim. (Did you know you can just pull off some sequins from the trim to use individually? Or wait until the new catalog comes out and see what’s in there!)

I hope all of you mothers out there are having a very happy Mother’s Day! And if you are fortunate enough to still have YOUR mother, I hope you are spending some time with her, even if by phone.

Make your mother a quick and easy card, even if you already bought one at the store. You don’t know how much that might be appreciated! Just like when you were a little child!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Stampin’ Up! held its Leadership Conference back in January here in Houston, TX and one of the displays was for the Celebrando Creatividad Catalog which is all in Spanish and has Spanish Stampin’ Up! stamps, plus a few unique sets. Click on the catalog photo below to view the Celebrando Creatividad PDF.

Here are some photos that were on display there using stamps from the Celebrando Creatividad Catalog.

Images copyright Stampin’ Up! 2014

Today on Cinco de Mayo, take a look at the Spanish stamps offered by Stampin’ Up! Just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store and look under “Stamps” in the left sidebar, then “Translated Stamps”, then “Spanish” – or click HERE. Click the dropdown box to show ALL and you will be able to scroll through more easily. If you are interested in receiving a new Celebrando Creatividad Catalog for 2014-15 when it comes out, please send me an email at Karen@KarenStamps.com.

Whether or not you are a Star Wars fan, apparently May 4th is Star Wars Day to celebrate all things Star Wars! The date was chosen because, well, how fun is it to say, “May the 4th be with you!” (I didn’t even get it when my husband said he was disappointed it wasn’t a work day so he could say that to his co-workers.) Of course it is a pun on the real Star Wars famous saying, “May the Force be with you!”

If you are looking for things to do on Star Wars Day you can watch any of the Star Wars movies, have a Star Wars party, get special deals on Star Wars merchandise, play with Lightsabers, dress up as your favorite Star Wars character, build a Star Wars model with Legos, or read all the Star Wars posts on Facebook and Twitter.

But what better way to celebrate Star Wars Day than to try your hand at making one or more of the famous Star Wars characters for a card or scrapbook page?! I found this Yoda made by a UK Demonstrator, Sarah-Jane Rae with punches, the Labels Collection Framelits Dies, and the Lattice Embossing Folder. I followed her tutorial for making Yoda ,and then I designed the rest of the card myself. Here is the link to her blog post because she explains so well how to make the Yoda. It really is simple.

I remembered that sometime in the past I had found a website that would “translate” something you said in English into “Yoda-Speak”. Not sure if this is the same one or not, and there is more than one, but here is a link to the Yoda-Speak Generator! Have fun with it!  I just printed out my greeting on the computer. I even found that I had a font called “Star Jedi Rounded”. Then I cut it out with a Word Bubbles Framelits Die which was perfect! Almost forgot I had those! The little stars are punched with the star punch in the Merry Minis Punch Pack and Champagne Glimmer Paper.

How will you be celebrating Star Wars Day?

Owl Punch

$16.95

1-3/8 Inch Circle Punch

$15.95

Word Window Punch

$15.95

Merry Minis Punch Pack

$16.95

Labels Collection Framelits Dies

$26.95

Word Bubbles Framelits Dies

$24.95

Bird Punch

$16.95

Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die

$7.95

Boho Blossoms Punch

$16.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

If you wonder how we get inspiration to make cards and other projects, sometimes it doesn’t take any more than going out in the front yard!  Our Carolina Jasmine is blooming right now and oh my, I wish this blog had “Smell-O-Vision”! That flowering vine has the most amazing fragrance! The scent must waft into the air easily because often we can smell it better being away from it, like back in the driveway, than standing right next to it. Those beautiful little white flowers really smell GOOD!

Here’s one bunch of it. It used to be a ground cover around a pine tree, which was diseased and we finally had to cut it down.  No more worrying that the tree could come crashing into the dining room during a bad storm! We love it when the jasmine blooms and smells so sensational!

On my card, I used the vine in Everything Eleanor. This is a stamp set that is NOT retiring so you should be able to order it easily. The vine is stamped in Pear Pizzazz ink on Whisper White card stock.  The little piece of designer paper at the bottom is from Gingham Garden. I loved that pack of designer paper and it is on the Retiring List so be sure and get it if you want it. The little flowers were punched with the one little punch in the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. This is also on the retirement list. I’ve used those little punches a lot. The greeting is from Happy Watercolor in the Occasions Catalog. The punch I used is the versatile Decorative Label Punch.

Here’s how to make the little flowers pop up a bit to look like the jasmine on my vine. Use the Paper- Piercing Tool and Stampin’ Pierce Mat. Just use the opposite end that you would use for piercing and push down in the center of the little flower on the mat. Color in the center with a marker or use a little jewel or Candy Dot in the center.

For any of these great stamp sets or supplies, please visit my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!  Be sure you check the Weekly Deals, the Clearance Rack, the Retiring List, and more!

Every year at Retirement List time, we all hold our breath and wonder if the Lovely As a Tree Stamp Set will finally meet its demise! Thankfully, not yet this year!! I’m not sure I know of another stamp set as well-loved as this one.  Even Shelli Gardner, at the Stampin’ Up! Convention one year, on stage, said “Isn’t Lovely As a Tree retired yet??”  Everyone gasped because we dare not consider that possibility. It just is such a useful set, often for a masculine card, but not necessarily. The images are beautiful and the cards and projects you can make come out with a special beauty and elegance about them.

Yesterday was Earth Day and it made me think of Lovely As a Tree. I found a piece of Very Vanilla already die-cut with the Labels Collection Framelit and thought this single tree would be perfect on it.  I colored the stamp with Stampin’ Write Markers rather than an ink pad (Early Espresso and Wild Wasabi). It needed something so I punched an oval with the Scallop Oval Punch and used that to sponge onto my tree piece for sky!  I even used Soft Sky ink.  I LOVE the way that turned out! And at the bottom I just sponged a little Wild Wasabi ink for a suggestion of green grass. The Thinking of You greeting is from Four You. The background paper is embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.

If you don’t already own this Lovely As a Tree stamp set, you might want to put it on your list for this week! Remember, the retiring stamp sets and products are going fast AND Stampin’ Up! is offering FREE SHIPPING through Friday! Free Shipping doesn’t come around too often so be sure not to miss it!